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Monday September 20, 2010 8:41 pm

Comic Book Jobs: Pixar Animation

Are you a comic book artist who’s looking for a change from Batman/Spider-Man/Avengers and want to get into something new? Do you want something steadier in an industry that might be around for awhile? Try animation.

Pixar is the animation studio that has redefined it. Hits like Toy Story, The Incredibles, Cars, A Bug’s Life, Up, and more have made it the gold standard for cartoons. And if you can draw comic books, you might have a shot at working for their studio.

They’re looking for Story Artists “to portray the film story concepts in comic book form to guide subsequent film production.”

That sounds a lot like storyboarding, which is a lot like drawing comic book panels. You’ll be receiving “written and verbal descriptions of a sequence from the Director” and creating storyboards that “depict the action, camera placement, and acting of the characters in that sequence.”

And then there’s the fun part. You’ll “hone, refine, delete or create dialog where needed and then present the storyboards to the Director and other members of the story team.” In case you didn’t know, animated films are a team effort. There is a script, but a lot of people contribute to it during production, constantly pushing the film to be better.

It’s fun to be part of a creative environment, even if the hours are long and the work is demanding. A lot of loot is riding on each animated film, and expectations for Pixar’s movies are always high.

And as a bonus, Emeryville, CA looks like a nice place to live and work.